Complications of the Heart
by Summer Sweetheart
Summary: On their way to the Fire Nation Capital to fight Azula, Katara and Zuko discuss Katara's relationship with Aang. Hints of Kataang.


Wo-hoo! Finally able to finish a fic I started! This is yet another Kataang fic. I've had this idea for a while. It takes place during the beginning of the episode Sozin's Comet Part 3: Into the Inferno. I'd like to thank Fire Lord Lionheart for looking this over! Less than three Lion!

**Disclaimer:** Really?

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><p>Sozin's Comet had come and it was time to face their destinies. Sokka, Toph and Suki had gone to defeat the airship fleets that were going to destroy the Earth Kingdom. Aang was hopefully on his way to face the Fire Lord while Katara and Zuko were heading towards the Fire Nation Capital so Zuko could take the throne before Azula did. As the two rode Appa throughout the comet lit sky, Katara noticed Zuko looking worried.<p>

"Zuko, don't worry, we can take Azula." Katara said, trying to put some faith into him. The truth was that defeating Azula wasn't going to be easy, but she was sure with the two of them there, they might just be able to do it.

"I'm not worried about her," he said "I'm worried about Aang. What if he doesn't have the guts to take out my father? What if he loses ?"

"Aang won't lose. He's gonna come back. He has to." Zuko noticed a slightly begging tone in her voice.

"You really like him, don't you?" Zuko asked her after a minute.

"What?" Katara was surprised to hear Zuko say something that was, to her, so random.

"Aang. I see the way you two look at each other. You like him, don't you?"

"Well…" Katara hesitated. The truth was she did like him, but she felt that if she voiced her true feelings, something bad would happen to Aang. She wanted to be with him more than anything, but if she kept her feelings to herself, maybe he would make it. "I-I…"

Seeing the blush on her face said it all for Zuko. He didn't need to hear her say it. "It's okay. Love is hard."

"You don't need to tell me." Katara said. "It's just… all throughout this journey… Aang kept on dropping hints that he liked me. At first, I didn't think much of it. I thought it was just a crush and it'll pass. But… it didn't." She remembered how Aang had tried to tell her something while they were in Ba Sing Se right before he left to see the guru. She had guessed that he was going to tell her how he felt about her… until Sokka interrupted.

"Has Aang ever… acted on these feelings?" Zuko asked.

"Well… yeah. Actually, right before the invasion, right before he flew of… he kissed me." Katara looked away from Zuko as a blush formed across her cheeks.

"What did you do after that?" Zuko asked her.

"Well, I didn't have time to react. Before the kiss registered in my mind, he pulled away and took off. I didn't know what to make about it, actually." She shrugged.

"And you never brought it up again?" Zuko asked.

"Well, we didn't have the time. I mean, there was a lot going on that day. After the invasion, I thought about it sometimes but was too afraid to bring it up. I knew it would come up eventually. And a few weeks later, it did."

Zuko raised his eyebrows. "Oh? What happened?"

"Do you remember when we were in Ember Island and saw that play?"

"Unfortunately, I do." Zuko said. That play wasn't something Zuko would likely ever forget.

"Well, when Aang left, I went looking for him. I found him outside and he just… started talking about _us_. He brought up the kiss and said that he thought we were going to be together." Katara's heart fell as she remembered the conversation.

"And what did you say?" Zuko asked.

"Well, I told him that I didn't know if we should get together, and he just kept pushing me, asking why I didn't know and when I said it wasn't the right time, he asked when the right time would be."

"Sounds annoying." Zuko said flatly.

"It was a bit… but this was all happening too fast. I didn't know what to say, so I just said I was confused. Then… he kissed me."

"He _kissed_ you?" Zuko's eyes widened. "You said you were confused and he kissed you?"

"Yeah… and… I yelled at him. I feel really bad about that."

"Don't feel bad about it." Zuko said. "I'm sorry, but he deserved that. He shouldn't have done that."

"I know but… I've just been thinking about that lately and I just… regret how I acted. I shouldn't have yelled at him. I should have apologized to him before he left." Katara looked down and absent mindedly played with a bit of Appa's fur.

"Katara, don't blame yourself. None of this is your fault. You acted how you thought you should have acted. I'm sure you'd be able to make up with him later."

"All I know," Katara said, not appearing to have heard Zuko, "is that if something happens to Aang, I'd never be able to forgive myself. There are so many things I should have said, so many things I shouldn't have said…" In her mind, Katara replayed the fight she and Aang had the night he disappeared. She shouldn't have yelled at him when he was already under so much stress.

Zuko put a hand on Katara's shoulder. "I'm sure Aang would be fine. He's been training for this moment for months. As for how he's going to defeat him… I can't say. But Aang has found ways out of dangerous situations before. He'll be fine."

"Thanks Zuko." Katara said, shrugging his hand off her shoulder.

"So… are you going to tell him all this after the war's over?" he asked, trying to lighten the mood a bit.

"Well, I dunno. I guess… I'll talk to him." Katara said slowly. "But not right away. I want to wait for the right moment." Zuko just nodded, looking ahead of him at the red sky.

It was several silent minutes before Zuko spoke up. "There it is." He said, pointing ahead of him. "The Fire Nation Capital." He took Appa's reins and steered him to the courtyard of the palace where Azula was just about to be crowned Fire Lord.

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><p>Katara and Zuko sat outside the royal palace for what must've been an hour, waiting. After Azula was taken away by the Fire Sages, Katara again tried to heal Zuko some more, but he was still in a lot of pain. There wasn't too much else Katara could do.<p>

Suddenly, Katara gasped and pointed to the sky. She had just seen a bolt of light, not unlike the light that came out of the iceberg when she had broken Aang free. Katara didn't know how she knew this, but at the presence of the light, she knew that Aang was okay. That the war was over. He had won.

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><p>Thanks for reading! Please review! Still have two fics I'm working on. One's multi chaptered and different from the type of things I usually write! That and one other fic coming… eventually!<p> 


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